south africa had the economy, has the economy that is the greatest economic engine on the african continent and nelson n mandela did not dismantle that economy, he did not force the kind of redistribution of wealth at a pace in which his supporters wanted it to happen, he said now it's time for us to build, not to function as a revolution anymore. >> thanks, john harwood. we appreciate it. now, we are joined on the phone by robert johnson, who is a cnbc contributor, founder of the rlj and former chairman of b.e.t., old friend of mine. robert, you met nelson mandela many times, okay. how many times did you meet him, what are your thoughts tonight as he passes away? >> yeah, i had the great and humbling pleasure of meeting president mandela on a number of occasions, first with the former commerce secretary, late ron brown, and then i also accompanied president clinton on his historic trip to sub-saharan africa and of course when president mandela came to the united states seeking to raise funds to continue to fight apartheid and support his charities. the one thing, larry, that strikes me abo